The Daily Dose/December 17, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
Yesterday the Quotebook feature of this column ran a quote from Abraham Lincoln from the end of his 1862 State of the Union message to Congress. Following the custom of the time, it was delivered in writing:
We cannot escape history…we will be remembered in spite of ourselves…The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.
A century-and-a-half after Appomattox, whether or not the Civil War was an honorable effort or not is still open to debate. Most we know think it was, but some do not, regarding Lincoln’s performance as that of a despot. Both points have merit and the only thing that can be said for certain is that Lincoln was determined to save the Union and both used and ignored the Constitution as he saw fit.
150 years from now, when there are all new people on this planet, our time here will be scrutinized and we don’t think future generations are going to give us good reviews. They will be looking back at a divided, bickering and mean America that in the late-20th century became fat, dumb and happy and stopped striving. They will be shaking their collective heads at an America that accepted perpetual war, fiscal insanity, their country becoming a shooting gallery
Implicit in all this the fact future generations will be looking back at either an America that eventually got its act together or an America that collapsed under the weight of her perpetual wars and consuming debt, her collective rancor and deep social divides, her spite and her indifference.
We will not find those that will ultimately determine America’s fate on the TV or in the headlines. We will see them every time we look in the mirror because it is you and me – we the people – that will determine our country’s future. As long as we continue to tolerate the substandard at the ballot box we will have a substandard country. We begin demanding better, we will have better.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow buys some leather wipes for his personal desk blotter, plus some really expensive lip balm, and every college student east of the Rockies appears to be taking their winter holiday in town.
Who the hell schedules tour buses for a discount retailer???…Were the public restrooms closed???
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On This Date
In 1903 – Man takes its first successful airplane rides when Wilbur and Orville Wright fly the Wright Flyer four times a bit south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Man’s first plane ride lasted for 12 seconds and 120 feet and the last one went 852 feet in 59 seconds, the Wright Flyer sustaining heavy damage on its final landing and never flew again. The Wrights had actually flown three days earlier, however, their flight crashed after 3.5 seconds and was not successful.
In 1991 – The Cleveland Cavaliers defeat the Miami Heat 148-80, the 68-point difference establishing a new NBA record for Largest Margin of Victory in a Game. Cleveland led by 20 at the half, while the Heat could only be bothered to score 27 points combined in the third and fourth quarters. The record still stands and broke the old record of 63 points established in March 1972 when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors 162-99.
In 1983 – Say, Say, Say by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second of seven consecutive weeks, McCartney’s 29th appearance at #1 as a performer and Jackson’s tenth. The song also went to #1 in Sweden, Norway, Spain, Italy, France and Canada and peaked at #2 on Billboard’s soul chart. Due to when it charted Say, Say, Say was Billboard’s fourth biggest song of 1984, the ninth biggest of the decade and ranked 44th all-time on Billboard’s 2013 Greatest of All-Time Hot 100 singles chart.
Quotebook
…what a man is contributes more to his happiness than what he has.
Arthur Schopenhauer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Seven NFL players have rushed for more than 2,000 yards in a season, most recently by Adrian Peterson, then of the Minnesota Vikings, who ran for 2,097 yards in 2012. OJ Simpson is the only player to do it in a 14 game season.
Today’s Stumper
With how many different acts has Paul McCartney hit #1 with on the Billboard Hot 100? –Answer next time!
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